See It In Photos: Brick Beats Toms River North

Ugly.

That’s the only word that describes Friday night’s football game between Toms River North and Brick at the Mariners’ home field.
Long-simmering bad blood between the teams over the transfer of quarterback Carmen Sclafani from Toms River North to Brick between his sophomore and junior seasons erupted late in the game, and while the Dragons won 30-13, it came at a cost as two Brick players were ejected, along with one player from Toms River North.

With the victory, Brick earned at least a share of the Shore Conference Class A South title.

What triggered the outburst that resulted in the ejections was unclear; players from the two teams had been exchanging comments on the field after plays much of the game. But Brick will likely be without running back Ray Fattaruso and defensive back Tom Leech next week against Colts Neck. Toms River North’s Bryce Watts will be out due to his ejection when the Mariners take on Neptune.

Sclafani, who was injured in last year’s game, told the Shore Sports Network that the bitterness began last year: “They were a little disrespectful to some of our players and coaches last year and it got personal, not just for me but for everyone, really.”

The bitterness wasn’t limited to players on the field, however; fans from the Toms River North stands hurled insults and profanity at the referees, especially on the first of Sclafani’s four touchdowns, which came against a wall of Mariners on the goal line. North coaches and fans insisted Sclafani never broke the plane of the goal line but officials ruled otherwise. Fans from the Brick sideline screamed profanity at the officials as well, protesting the ejections late in the game. Even the Toms River North PA announcer got into the act, yelling at Brick coach Rob Dahl to get off the field as he argued his case with the referees.

All of the vitriol cast a pall over a game that had otherwise been hard-fought on the field by both teams.

The disputed Sclafani touchdown made the score 10-7, but it was the defensive effort by Brick on the Toms River North series that preceded it that really set the stage for the rest of the game.

North led 7-0 after a 22-yard touchdown run by quarterback Mike Husni on the Mariners’ opening drive of the game. Brick went nowhere on its ensuing possession, which ended with an interception of Sclafani, but North was unable to capitalize.

On its next possession, Brick moved deep into North territory, but still couldn’t find its way to the end zone, settling for a 25-yard field goal by K.C. Stackable.

Then the Dragons’ defense put the clamps on the Mariners, who were operating without big-play threat Ashanti Moorer, who suffered an ankle injury and went out of the game.

North had first-and-10 from its 36 after a first-down scramble by Husni, but the Dragons shut him down. A pair of sacks and a penalty left North facing a third-and-38 from its 8-yard line, and Husni’s long pass to Jordan Craig missed its mark. The ensuing punt set Brick and Sclafani up at the Mariners’ 37, and Sclafani kicked into high gear from there.

The Mariners responded with a 50-yard touchdown run by Watts, but Brick blocked the extra point, sending North into the lockerroom with a 13-10 lead.

Brick took the lead for good on its opening drive of the second half, with Sclafani willing and fighting his way through the North defense every time the Dragons needed a big play. He set up both his second and fourth touchdowns -- short-yardage scores -- with big runs where he was caught at the last second by Mariner defenders. His third TD came on a 20-yard burst up the middle.

Brick was leading 30-13 when the melee broke out.

After a long run up the Toms River North sidelines, Husni was hit out of bounds by Leech. With tempers flaring and players and coaches pushing and shoving, flags flew. In the end, Leech was ejected for the late hit and unnecessary roughness afterward. Fattaruso was given a personal foul, which the officials said was his second but Brick coach Rob Dahl told Shore Sports Network that another player’s personal foul earlier in the game had been wrongly attributed to Fattaruso.

Dahl told the network the ejections will be appealed.

The two ejections put Brick in a delicate position, however; as reported by the Shore Sports Network, the Dragons will have to be on their best behavior next weekend as they host Toms River South as a third ejection will disqualify them from the playoffs and end their hopes of defending their NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV title.

See more photos from the game on the Brick Patch Facebook page, here.